W.C. Fields

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

63

Gender

Male

Birthday

1880-01-29

Day of death

1946-12-25 (66 years old)

Place of Birth

Darby, Pennsylvania, USA

W.C. Fields

Biography

William Claude Dukenfield was the eldest of five children born to Cockney immigrant James Dukenfield and Philadelphia native Kate Felton. He went to school for four years, then quit to work with his father selling vegetables from a horse cart. At eleven, after many fights with his alcoholic father (who hit him on the head with a shovel), he ran away from home. For a while he lived in a hole in the ground, depending on stolen food and clothing. He was often beaten and spent nights in jail. His first regular job was delivering ice. By age thirteen he was a skilled pool player and juggler. It was then, at an amusement park in Norristown PA, that he was first hired as an entertainer. There he developed the technique of pretending to lose the things he was juggling. In 1893 he was employed as a juggler at Fortescue's Pier, Atlantic City. When business was slow he pretended to drown in the ocean (management thought his fake rescue would draw customers). By nineteen he was billed as "The Distinguished Comedian" and began opening bank accounts in every city he played. At age twenty-three he opened at the Palace in London and played with Sarah Bernhardt at Buckingham Palace. He starred at the Folies-Bergere (young Charles Chaplin and Maurice Chevalier were on the program). He was in each of the Ziegfeld Follies from 1915 through 1921. He played for a year in the highly praised musical "Poppy" which opened in New York in 1923. In 1925 D.W. Griffith made a movie of the play, renamed Sally of the Sawdust (1925), starring Fields. Pool Sharks (1915), Fields' first movie, was made when he was thirty-five. He settled into a mansion near Burbank, California and made most of his thirty-seven movies for Paramount. He appeared in mostly spontaneous dialogs on Charlie McCarthy's radio shows. In 1939 he switched to Universal where he made films written mainly by and for himself. He died after several serious illnesses, including bouts of pneumonia.

Known For

  • Wogan

    Wogan

  • The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender

    The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender

  • If I Had a Million

    If I Had a Million

  • The Big Parade of Comedy

    The Big Parade of Comedy

  • W.C. Fields: Straight Up

    W.C. Fields: Straight Up

  • Mae West and the Men Who Knew Her

    Mae West and the Men Who Knew Her

  • The Circus: Premiere

    The Circus: Premiere

  • I Know A Riddle

    I Know A Riddle

  • The Potters

    The Potters

  • Tales of Manhattan

    Tales of Manhattan

  • Man on the Flying Trapeze

    Man on the Flying Trapeze

  • The Old-Fashioned Way

    The Old-Fashioned Way

  • Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

    Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

  • How to Break 90 #3: Hip Action

    How to Break 90 #3: Hip Action

  • Hooray for Hollywood

    Hooray for Hollywood

  • Running Wild

    Running Wild

  • The Big Broadcast of 1938

    The Big Broadcast of 1938

  • The Dentist

    The Dentist

  • The Pharmacist

    The Pharmacist

  • Down Memory Lane

    Down Memory Lane

  • Sally of the Sawdust

    Sally of the Sawdust

  • Her Majesty, Love

    Her Majesty, Love

  • Poppy

    Poppy

  • Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

    Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

  • It's a Gift

    It's a Gift

  • My Little Chickadee

    My Little Chickadee

  • You Can't Cheat an Honest Man

    You Can't Cheat an Honest Man

  • The Hollywood Clowns

    The Hollywood Clowns

  • Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch

    Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch

  • Going Hollywood: The '30s

    Going Hollywood: The '30s

  • Mississippi

    Mississippi

  • Follow the Boys

    Follow the Boys

  • Alice in Wonderland

    Alice in Wonderland

  • David Copperfield

    David Copperfield

  • Sensations of 1945

    Sensations of 1945

  • Tillie's Punctured Romance

    Tillie's Punctured Romance

  • That's Entertainment, Part II

    That's Entertainment, Part II

  • International House

    International House

  • The Movie Orgy

    The Movie Orgy

  • Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!

    Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!

  • Show-Business at War

    Show-Business at War

  • You're Telling Me!

    You're Telling Me!

  • Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults

    Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults

  • So's Your Old Man

    So's Your Old Man

  • That Royle Girl

    That Royle Girl

  • Six of a Kind

    Six of a Kind

  • It's the Old Army Game

    It's the Old Army Game

  • Million Dollar Legs

    Million Dollar Legs

  • The Bank Dick

    The Bank Dick

  • Song of the Open Road

    Song of the Open Road

  • Never Give a Sucker an Even Break

    Never Give a Sucker an Even Break

  • The Fatal Glass of Beer

    The Fatal Glass of Beer

  • Tillie and Gus

    Tillie and Gus

  • The Barber Shop

    The Barber Shop

  • Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

    Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

  • Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives, Tragic Deaths

    Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives, Tragic Deaths

  • Janice Meredith

    Janice Meredith

  • The Golf Specialist

    The Golf Specialist

  • Pool Sharks

    Pool Sharks

  • W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films

    W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films

  • Hollywood on Parade No. B-7

    Hollywood on Parade No. B-7

  • Two Flaming Youths

    Two Flaming Youths

  • Fools for Luck

    Fools for Luck